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14 thoughts on “Obama in Fort Worth”

I am not impressed with many things about Barack Obama. What I am impressed with most is the fact that he listens. He LISTENS to Americans. He will continue to do so. People follow him. We need some real leadership.
No matter of experience can prepare you for the white house, unless you are already there. What is most important is listening and leadership.
That is why Barack Obama has shown WISDOM and clarity in his judegments.

I am awed by Barack Obama. I find him difficult to ignore. He is an interesting man with wonderful unting things to say. He DOES make us realize that (or perhaps forget) that race has to be a factor. I simply love his message. He has my vote.http://theveiledtsunami.wordpress.com

I love your postings. It was nice sitting with you last night and then reading what it was you saw there today. I saw many of the same things, but could not put them down as eloquently. Thank you for your insight and wisdom and observations.

Some people do not agree with everything Obama has proposed, but at the same time the democratic voters are united and understand he can take them to victory wile making history.
This is the best shot in the arm that the party can have.
He will bring a fresh start so terribly needed.
Hillary takes them in the past with sensitive material that the voter want to forget.
She is what the republican want as a nominee.
Hopefully the democratic party will do the right thing and nominate Obama,because he is motivating many democrats and indipendents to vote this election.

“This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better. This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama’s audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed. A black man with a white mother became a savior to us. A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall.”
— Nation of Islam Grand Wizard Louis Farrakhan, sounding Barack Obama’s praises

I assure you I have no problem with anyone’s skin color or race, and I wouldn’t hesitate to vote for him (or for a woman) if I truly believed he was qualified for the highest office of this country. I’m simply not convinced by words or content to accept things at face value and I believe there is reason to question.

Here are some other “fun facts”…

Although he seems to “preach” unity, he attends a “Christian” church that is quite open about saying it is a “black” church (on the website’s About page). While I have no problem with anyone being proud of their heritage, I think any church that would proclaim to be a “white” church would be labeled “racist”. And I think most Christians would have a hard time actually considering it truly a “Christian” church for that matter.

On the Trinity United Church of Christ (Chicago) website (Mission page) is also a statement that God “is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution.” I don’t recall ever reading anything in the Bible that would support that statement. Instead, iin Matthew 26:11, Christ says “The poor you will always have with you…” Isn’t wealth earned through work — not distributed? The church is called to care for those who are unable to care for themselves, but I don’t believe it is to be in the business of redistribution of wealth, especially if it means taking money from hardworking or successful people and giving it to those who choose not to work. If he shares the church’s goals, I have to wonder what that would mean for America if he were president.

By sharing the quote, I was merely trying to shed some light on the person you (a pastor) seem to be holding up as America’s hope or savior, much like Mr. Farrakhan. A Savior has already come to earth so I don’t believe another is needed. Was He not the Final Word?

I find it interesting that you make no comment about Mr. Farrakhan’s statement, but instead resort to calling me a bigot or racist and then judge me (a trait I’ve noticed you don’t hesitate to condem in others). You could have instead taken an honest look at the facts; or tried to prove them wrong or irrelevant; or just said thanks/no thanks for the info. So your choice makes me question whether you’re really as open-minded and welcoming of questions as you profess to be.

But, hey, it’s your blog (soapbox, diary) so you’re free to do whatever you want. Call me names, judge my character, post rude, dismissive or condescending responses, delete my comment, and choose instead to only post comments of those who stroke your ego or agree with you. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should (a teaching you’ll also find in the Bible).

There is a reason I didn’t share my name and it has nothing to do with fear. I didn’t want my name to influence your responses in any way. Based on your responses to my comments in the past, I was a little hesitant to comment again since you (as well as your son) made it pretty clear you didn’t care for my input. FYI – I knew my e-mail would be available to you.

I’ve read nearly every one of your entries and it was difficult for me to believe they were written by someon I’ve known for so long and actually thought I “knew.” I’ve refrained from commenting in the past, but feel I no longer can. The tone, the language, and the borderline sacrilegious nature of some entries is like nothing I’ve ever heard or would care to hear from a pastor. I find that sad, disturbing…and disappointing. It makes me wonder if that’s why you chose not to include your first name in this blog. I wish you would have chosen not to mention you’re a pastor, too. If you have such a huge problem with the Christian religion, or if it’s just a job and not truly a calling, then why not simply move on and find another occupation? Don’t tear down the church in the process. In telling you this, I think you should know that I speak for others as well as myself.

After you’ve read this, you’ll probably decide to ditch it and that’s fine. I don’t really need or want a response. All I ask is that you think about what I’ve said and search your heart. And believe me when I say that any comments I’ve made were done with love and were only intended to help. Also know that I am praying that God will work in your heart and mind to bring about a change in your life.

Being human, as Jesus was, it’s hard not to get upset when someone accuses you of being sacrilegious. Take comfort then that you can open up a history book to any page and find a Christian who was so accused.

Unquestioning faith works for some people. The idea that “God said it, I believe it, that settles it,” seems to be the precepts here of Anon, and I guess that brings that person pleasure and peace, so that’s fine.

But heresy has a tremendous tradition in Christian faith, one that has ended in the murder of many great men. The Catholic church just apologized for many of them. Anyway, I see no problem with continuing the tradition. It’s a long, proud list, beginning chronologically with Jesus and continuing into eternity (or the “rapture”) for as long as Christians are willing to question the purpose and contexts of their faith.

(By the way, is this the same person who defended Benny Hinn and the other televangelists by saying that it’s up to God to expose them in His own time, that He doesn’t need anyone else’s help….?? Jeeez, God will deal Hinn when he can then, but we’ll deal with David in the meantime, huh?)

You know, now that I think about it, I’m angry with myself for getting pulled into that Farrakhan nonsense. Because, by getting involved in that, I’d forgotten that the original post on the Ft. Worth gathering was beautiful and interesting and had only a little to do with politics anyway.

That’s the problem here, and I’m guilty of falling for it. People forward things and post things that are convenient to their systems of belief. Largely, in this case, because Obama has a “D” beside his name. But there are probably other reasons too. That’s fine. It’s America, you can vote for who you choose, and post all the comments we want.

But it’s important to remember that this is called misinformation (I’m talking mostly to myself now), and it works. It’s designed to get you talking about other things, and not the actual problems that face us. We saw it with the federal gay marriage amendment on the ballot in 12(?) states in 2004. Everyone in charge knew there wouldn’t be a federal amendment. It’s extremely difficult to pass constitutionally and the numbers aren’t even close for a gay marriage amendment. But man, it got us all riled up didn’t it. On both sides. It did me.

It’s the same thing here. Link Obama to Muslims, get people to argue about it, Link him to the Weathermen, get people to argue about it. If it gets disproved, pretend it didn’t and most importantly, keep arguing.

I fall for it all the time. But (and this is what I have to remind myself) that it’s easier and more pleasing to our own vanity to spend our time and energy this way, than it is to reflect on our own complicity with over a half million dead Iraqis and four thousand dead Americans, with homeless veterans and children without health care, and energy policies written by our “allies,” the Saudis.

I get these forwards, these Swift Boat emails (I’m talking methods, not candidates here). And they work on me. I want to shake them out of the internet. I want to fight someone. But that’s how misinformation works. It gets you arguing with people who will always disagree with you, people who feel just as right as you do, people whom you would avoid talking about this stuff with in person and probably have a fine conversation on baseball or reality tv instead.

So, I’m trying to remember that. The post on the rally was terrific, and deserved my praise. I got distracted, but I’m back now and will try to do better in the future.

This is a beautiful post. I’m so glad I got to share in the writer’s experience, I would have had a hard time with a crowd that size, I’m glad to have heard the descriptions of crowd and ambiance of exuberance and hope. And like Scotchcart said, the world is watching us.

I’m not quite sure if this is the correct forum for personal disappointment.